Connecticut Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 59.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,273 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,944,764,000 after purchasing an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,698,519,000 after buying an additional 1,317,729 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Walmart by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,765,278 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,361,411,000 after acquiring an additional 562,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,011,647 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,081,120,000 after buying an additional 78,981 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,086,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 over the last quarter. 46.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE WMT traded up $0.11 on Friday, reaching $59.82. 14,207,397 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,769,110. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.02. The company has a market cap of $482.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.34 and a 12 month high of $61.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 43.38%.

Walmart Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.